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SONNETS 

SUGGESTED BY PAINTINGS IN THE 
COLLECTION OF ELOISE LEE AND 
FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN 

BY- 
FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN 

1- 




New ^rk, 

PRIVATELY PRINTED 

MGMXI 



r- 



:1 



Copyright, 191 1, by 
Frederic Fairchild Sherman 



CCI.A303531 



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MOONRISE 

Painted by Ralph Albert Blakelock 

THE GRAND CANYON 

Painted by Elliott Daingerfield 

A COUNTRY ROAD 

Painted by John H. Twachtman 

NOVEMBER WINDS 

Painted by Norwood MacGilvary 

A MAY DAY 

Painted by Lillian M. Genth 

MOONLIGHT 

Painted by Ralph Albert Blakelock 



THE GRAND CANYON 

[Painted by Elliott Daingerfield] 

Gleaming with glory in its setting grand 
The Canyon like a great fire-opal lies 
Burning with the bright beauty of the skies — 

A perfect jewel in the sunlit land. 

And here an artist with a magic hand 
Has made the vision of its wonder rise 
Like some mirage in heaven for our eyes 

To feast upon and try to understand. 

This world is but the mighty diadem 

God, as a crown, wears on his kingly brow, 
And this great opal, burning like the sun, 
What is it but that single perfect gem 

Outshining all earth's jewels, flashing now 
Among them, and of all the brightest one ? 



A COUNTRY ROAD 

[Painted by John H. Twachtman] 

This road that takes us through a world so green 
Is the old highway of the happy heart 
We used to walk, that took us tar apart 

From the vain world to some such sylvan scene 

Of country quiet, hidden in between 

The hills of home. And what a touch of art 
To paint it ending where the others start 

That lead to ends so different, so mean ! 

These are the fields and this the summer sky 
Of that glad earth where in the long ago 
We lived our lives of innocence and joy, 
Like the young gods of fabled days gone by 
Whose happiness it was our lot to know. 

Sweetheart, when first I loved you as a boy ! 



NOVEMBER WINDS 

[Painted by Norwood MacGilvary] 

The leafless branches of the mighty trees — 

Those harps of God — each softly sways and sings ; 
Invisibly His fingers touch the strings 

And all the world is filled with memories. 

Haunting the music is, m minor keys, 

And sometimes with a sound as of the wings 
Of unseen birds, from heaven again it brings 

The summer back on the November breeze. 

Ciray though the skies, the sun does not forget 
To temper with its warmth each touch of cold 
That passes ghost-like through the Autumn air. 
The empty fields are full of fragrance yet. 
The odour of that wondrous wine of gold 

That cheers the heart of him who lingers there ! 



A MAY DAY 

[Painted by Lillian M. Genth] 

Forevermore adown this path of May 

The wood-nymphs with their garland of bright flowers 
Will dance throughout the happy sunlit hours 

Of youth's unclouded and immortal day. 

The world will change, the years will pass away, 
And they be joyous in these leafy bowers 
Where bird notes rain from heaven in sweet showers, — 

Glad children in a garden still at play. 

Time cannot take from us this Paradise 
Nor drive from it the spirits of our youth. 
Safe in the Eden of the long ago 
They shall live on, our joy when all else dies. 
Unchanged and beautiful, to be in truth 
At last the greatest happiness we know. 



MOONLIGHT 

[Painted by Ralph Albert Blakelock] 

Queen of the air and mistress of the night, 

Out of the dark, the silvery moon doth rise — 
How like an angel to our wondering eyes. 

Her lovely face with heaven's glory bright ? 

See, there she walks transfigured in our sight 
Along the hidden pathways of the skies 
Even unto the gates of Paradise 

That open on God' s gardens of delight ! 

Trembling with beauty at her feet unfold 

The fleecy clouds, those fragile flowers of love 
Whose perfume fills the evening like a dream ; 
The very whisper of the wind doth hold 
A hint of music from the realms above — 
The echo of some grand immortal theme ! 



TWENTY-FIVE COPIES OF THIS BOOK ON 
JAPANESE VELLUM PRIVATELY PRINTED 
BY THE AUTHOR FOR HIS FRIENDS 



VL.V C^ 1-^' ' 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 
DEC 23 1»13 



